The MUSC study provides evidence of the link between "leaking bowel production" and autoantibody production in HIV-positive patients

The human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV, attacks the immune system, making those affected more vulnerable to infections. When HIV-positive patients receive antiretroviral therapy, their immune systems can recover, but some of them produce self-destructing proteins, or autoantibodies.

Instead of attacking foreign invaders such as bacteria or viruses, some autoantibodies attack the body's own cells. This is known as autoimmunity. We all produce low levels of autoantibodies. However, when they are persistently produced at high levels, autoimmunity may occur.

In an article of microbiome, Wei Jiang, MD, badociate professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Medicine of South Carolina (MUSC), and her team report that HIV-positive patients treated with antiretrovirals and treated with antiretrovirals and high levels of autoantibodies also show increased levels of bacteria (staphylococcus aureus) products in their blood.

The MUSC study compared the production of autoantibodies in HIV-positive patients and healthy people before and after the administration of a seasonal flu vaccine. Patients provided blood samples before vaccination and one to two weeks later. Blood samples were tested using a panel of 125 antibodies.

The autoimmune response in HIV-positive patients was related to the presence of staphylococcus aureus produced in the blood. It is the same bacteria responsible for staph infections of the skin. Some HIV-positive patients have a higher baseline level of these bacterial products in their system. The team examined other strains of bacteria but only linked staphylococcus aureus Autoantibody production in HIV-positive people.

A "leaking hose" could explain the increased level of staphylococcus produced in the blood of HIV-positive patients.

In patients with "leaking gut", the intestinal lining is weakened, allowing bacteria and toxins from the intestine to enter the bloodstream, where they become vulnerable to the immune system. The attacks of the immune system on these bacteria could also damage the body's own tissues.

A "leaking digestive tract" is badociated with persistent inflammation and several chronic diseases, including HIV, irritable bowel syndrome, celiac disease and type 1 diabetes.

To verify their findings, Jiang and his team injected heat-killed virus. staphylococcus healthy mice and found that they actually stimulated the production of autoantibodies.

"We used animals to check what we found in humans," says Jiang. "We have seen that the level of staphylococcus the product was correlated with the production of autoantibodies in HIV patients, and we hypothesized that these bacteria induce autoantibodies, so we tested our hypothesis in mice. "

The mouse studies were funded by warrants from the South Carolina Clinical and Translational Research Institute (TRCS), an NIH-funded clinical and translational science reward platform at MUSC.

The ability to further explore clinical outcomes in an animal model was crucial for this study. The study in mice showed that the injection of staphylococcus Bacteria stimulate the production of autoantibodies.

"We are now studying which staphylococcus the products are active in the production of autoantibodies in mice, "says Jiang. It may be possible to design an inhibitor to prevent these bacteria from activating the immune cells. "

For the future, Jiang and his team hope to design a drug that inhibits staphylococcus help prevent autoimmunity in HIV-positive patients treated with antiretrovirals.